If you see a 48-foot mobile-sports headquarters invading the Penn campus this week, don't be alarmed -- ESPN College GameDay is just moving in for the weekend.
From today's kickoff until Saturday's GameDay broadcast before the Penn-Harvard game, the Discover Card Tailgate, as the interactive sports bonanza is called, will be setting up shop to promote the ESPN show on Hill Field.
Just like students at other GameDay sites this season, Penn students will have the chance to compete in a slew of football activities -- including a quarterback throwing challenge, a receiving competition and also a field goal kick.
But that's not all.
The Tailgate will also give students a shot to flash their pearly whites next to three life-sized cutouts of Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso and Chris Fowler, the GameDay broadcasting team.
"It's just about giving the fans some real fun activities and encouraging them to come out," said Amanda Hirschhorn, a spokeswoman for Discover's P.R. firm, Hunter & Associates.
In addition to the full day of football-related activities, the Tailgate is also scheduled to run a mock "Greek Olympics" on Friday afternoon from 4-6 p.m. on Hill Field.
All campus organizations, including fraternities and sororities, are invited to compete against one another in a host of football-related events.
"They try to reach out to all of the groups of campus," said Matt Harris, a spokesman for Hunter & Associates. "The students really seem to enjoy it."
By participating in the Tailgate's activities, fans will be eligible to win a host of free giveaways -- a spectre that's certain to whet the appetite of cash-strapped college students.
"There are just a ton of free prizes," Hirschhorn said. "They give out footballs, fleeces, [Best Buy and Discover] gift cards, hats, frisbees, seat cushions and maybe even ponchos if it rains."
GameDay's visit to Penn is a landmark experience for more reasons than its impressive Tailgate.
It also marks the first time that GameDay -- college football's top television preview program -- will broadcast from a Division I-AA school.
Since it started its road show in 1993 -- GameDay traveled to South Bend, Ind. for No. 1 Florida State v. No. 2 Notre Dame -- the crew has done 85 regular season games.
Eighty-four of those games have had "national title implications." Before this week's broadcast, the Nov. 13, 2001 Army v. Air Force matchup stood as the lone exception.
Saturday, one more will be added to that list.
The Saturday morning telecast is not the only GameDay programming that will be done in West Philly, however.
On Friday, the GameDay crew will get the ball rolling by taping a segment that will be aired on Friday evening's 6 pm. SportsCenter.
Later that evening, the two more "junior members" of the crew, Fowler and Herbstreit will do a live-radio broadcast from the Top Dog Cafe in the Sheraton Hotel (36th and Chestnut streets).
During the show -- which lasts from 7-9 p.m. -- the radio announcers will interact with the crowd and will also answer questions from the audience.
"Usually, we have a lot of students that come out and listen to the radio show," Harris said. "It always draws a real good crowd and the audience seems to really enjoy it."
With college football fever infecting the Penn campus, it is also high-time for University students to show off some school spirit of their own.
This season, the GameDay crew has been greeted by a cluster of cadets at Air Force, Tennessee's renegade marching band and over 16,000 Kansas State football fans.
So what does the GameDay troupe expect from Penn?
"I'm just really curious to see how Penn compares to some of the SEC markets and some of the other conferences," Hirschhorn said. "I know everybody's expecting to have a real great time."
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